or four centuries before the Christian era; the preceding ages being clouded by allegory or fable."

In reviewing the various topics which have come under our notice in this chapter, what striking proofs do we find, in every part of the world, of the truth of the facts recorded in the Bible! The records of ancient nations have been ransacked by the enemies of Christianity, but the most perverse ingenuity has toiled in vain to invalidate a solitary fact contained in Scripture history. Fiction could not for a moment abide the test of such an ordeal, but truth, always consistent with itself, acquires an accession of evidence from every thing with which it stands connected. It is not enough to say that every effort to cloud the testimony of Moses and the Prophets has signally failed, for experience has still farther proved that all the power of perverted genius and misapplied learning has only served to bring to light some corroborative circumstance which had not previously been observed. The motions of the heavenly bodies, the geological structure of the earth, and the fossil remains with which it abounds, in an extraordinary degree combine to confirm those facts which the concurrent traditions of all nations have likewise handed down to posterity. Every thing around us proclaims that we are standing on the grave of a former world; that this earth has undergone some mighty convulsion; from the Nile to the Ganges, and from China to Peru, the tradition of Noah's flood in one way or other may be traced. But it is the Bible, and the Bible only, which unlocks the mystery, and furnishes a consistent and rational account of that awful catastrophe, while it tells us of the righteous indignation of Him who said, " I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth." In like

manner we have seen that other events recorded in Scripture, whether of a local or general description, are, in one way or other, perpetuated in the traditions or the customs of the heathen, while no contradictory evidence can be produced from any quarter. And is all this the result of chance? Are we to believe that the mythology of the Greeks and Romans, that the traditions of Egypt, of India, of South America, and other heathen countries, that the ruins of ancient cities, together with the natural appearances of the earth itself, all combine to witness to the truth of Scripture, and yet that these things are to be regarded much in the light of curious coincidences? As soon might we believe, like the Epicureans, that the world was produced by a fortuitous concourse of atoms. No; the testimony drawn from such sources never can be fairly impeached. It is a species of evidence which commends itself to the common sense of mankind, and it derives additional strength from the consideration that it cannot be counterfeited, and never can be explained away. It carries with it conviction which nothing but prejudice can resist, while, like the current of a mighty tide, it bears us onward to the inevitable conclusion that the Bible is the Book of God.

CHAPTER IX.

TESTIMONY TO THE MESSIAH FROM THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL.

men.

CHRISTIANITY appeared in the world in an age of knowledge. This was necessary in order to stamp the evidence of its truth. In an age of darkness a system of religion might be imposed on mankind, and gaining strength by habit, take a firm hold of the minds of But this cannot be alleged by the adversaries of the Christian system. It was in the enlightened period of the Augustan age that it appeared. It was a period when the arts and sciences had attained the greatest improvement. It was tried by every form of ingenuity, yet it stood the test. It was assaulted on every side, but the bulwark of the Faith could not be shaken. Its persecutors became its preachers. Its enemies became martyrs to its truth. All opposition was ineffectual. It spread throughout the empire with most astonishing rapidity. It was in the polished cities of Corinth, of Athens, and of Rome, that the first disciples triumphed and bled. They came forth at once into open day. They affected no concealment, but everywhere, even before the Court of Areopagus, preached Jesus and the resurrection.

Jesus Christ, in laying the foundations of his kingdom, did not act as the wisdom of this world would dictate. He did not deliver his instructions in a general and connected system. Had it been possible that

any human philosopher could have conceived the vast idea of a religion that should be universal, and adapted to every age and condition of man, this would have appeared the only way in which it could have been effected. But the manner which he who knew the human heart has adopted, proves his unerring wisdom, as the success that attended the work he undertook, demonstrates his almighty power.

The successful promulgation of Christianity in the first ages, viewed in connexion with the obstacles that opposed it, affords the most satisfactory evidence of its truth. Had it been calculated to foster the prejudices of the Jews, or flatter the pride of Gentile wisdom, its rapid introduction into the world would not have been so wonderful. But it was equally opposed to the prejudices of both the Jew and the Greek. Yet in a short time it prevailed over both Judaism and the worship of the gods.

When Jesus Christ appeared in the character of the Messiah, the difficulties of the work he proposed, on the one hand, and the means he employed to surmount them, on the other, seem entirely dispropor⚫tionate. The design was, to supersede the Jewish economy; to subvert the established religions of all other nations, supported, as they everywhere were, not only by the civil power, but also by the most deeplyrooted prejudices; to overthrow all those favourite systems which the pride of philosophy had so industriously reared; to change, in short, the whole religious and moral state of the world. A more stupendous and difficult undertaking could not be contemplated, and could only have been effected by Him "who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." To form a proper idea of this work, and of the testimony which

its accomplishment affords to the divine character of the Messiah, it is necessary to attend to the peculiar circumstances in which it was undertaken.

Polytheism had been established in the world for many ages, and the body of the people everywhere, except the Jews, were firmly attached to it. "If you search the world," says Plutarch, "you may find a city without walls, without towers, or any means of defence; but a city without its gods, without religion, you will not find." Something in the prospect of death, and of a future state, is necessary to support the human mind, unless being sophisticated and misled by vain reasoning, it is steeled by infidelity. This is more frequently the case with those who move in the higher ranks of life, than with such as have received a less refined education, and who have enjoyed little leisure for speculation. Having imbibed some fashionable system which flatters the pride of their hearts, and at the same time sets them free from many troublesome restraints, they often contrive to go on with tolerable ease, which, as the mind becomes more and more habitually hardened, will naturally increase. With those who are placed in the lower walks of life, this state of mind is not so common. Most of the latter, however, are satisfied with the outward form of the religion of the country in which they live, whatever it may be. But this, in general, they must have. And as enquiry on such a subject is irksome, and as those who are satisfied with its outward form without its power, have taken their religion entirely on trust, nothing inflames every passion of their minds to such violence as that which disturbs their repose, and brings their religious notions into doubt. In addition to all this, which is common to every age and form of worship, the religion of Pa